ARC Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: August 2nd 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Sometimes it is the one who loves you who hurts you the most.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

“Life is a funny thing. We only get so many years to live if, so we have to do everything we can to make sure those years are as full as they can be. We shouldn’t waste time on things that might happen someday, or maybe even never.”

It Ends with Us is probably Colleen Hoover’s most important book to date. It’s got such a powerful message within its pages – one everyone needs to hear. I’m keeping this review short and sweet, but I do want to stress that the theme of this novel deals with a heavy subject that may be a trigger to some people. That being said, I would still definitely recommend this book to everyone because the meaning behind the story is such an important one. This isn’t your typical love story – it’s so much more than that. I wouldn’t even say this is a romance at all – it’s just about love. It’s about all kinds of relationships and love and the loss of both. I really don’t have the words to describe this book justice – just read it for yourself!

Imagine all the people you meet in your life. There are so many. They come in like waves, trickling in and out with the tide. Some waves are much bigger and make more of an impact than others. Sometimes the waves bring with them things from deep in the bottom of the sea and they leave those things tossed onto the shore. Imprints against the grains of sand that prove the waves had once been there, long after the tide recedes.

The first half of the book, I’ll admit, bored me to tears. I didn’t connect with the main characters (the only ones I liked were two of the secondary characters) and I wasn’t that into their blooming romance. But literally right at the halfway mark was when things EXPLODED, emotionally and psychologically. I could sort of see it coming, but the impact of it was something I couldn’t have predicted. The second half of the book left me raw and aching – I’d give this section of the book 5 stars alone. It was incredibly written and told, despite the delicate topic. Colleen Hoover’s writing seems to get better and better with each new release, and you can see that so clearly in It Ends with Us.

Did I love this book? Yes and no. I really don’t know how I feel about this – but I will say that I’d still highly recommend everyone read it. It Ends with Us is not a book to be missed – it’s like nothing CoHo has has written before, but it’s still got her kind of heart and humor that’s present in all her books. And if you’re worried about the slow pacing of the first half, just keep reading like I did! I promise, the end of the book will be so worth it (though a tear or two might be shed!).

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Also by Colleen Hoover

Slammed: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Hopeless: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Maybe Someday: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Ugly Love: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Confess: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
November 9: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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4Jul2016

Release Day Review: Moonshot by Alessandra Torre

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Moonshot by Alessandra Torre
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: July 4th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

Baseball shouldn’t be a game of life and death…

The summer that Chase Stern entered my life, I was seventeen. The daughter of a legend, the Yankees were my family, their stadium my home, their dugout my workplace. My focus was on the game. Chase…he started out a distraction. A distraction with sex appeal poured into every inch of his six foot frame. A distraction who played like a God yet partied like a Devil.

I tried to stay away. I couldn’t.
Then, the team started losing.
Women started dying.
And everything in my perfect world broke apart.

First loves were supposed to be flimsy and temperamental. They were supposed to burn bright and fade fast. They weren’t supposed to stick. They weren’t supposed to eat away at a man’s heart, his capacity for life.

This isn’t your typical sports romance. In fact, Moonshot isn’t even your typical romance – it’s a perfect blend of first loves, a second chance romance, suspense, mystery, and most especially, baseball. If you’re looking for something different in a book, but would still make a perfect summer read, Moonshot is it. It’s addicting, intense, exciting – I literally couldn’t put it down from the second I picked it up. Nothing in this book was predictable, and I was glued to Ty and Chase’s story from the very start.

There were supposed to be moments where you could divert, could pick new paths that would lead back to success. But in this, there was only one path, a giant vacuum that sucked me in, the end hitting my heart with a resounding thud that shook everything, down to my soul. I love him. Still. More.

Ty Rollins has been a ball girl ever since her mother died when she was seven and she had to go live with her baseball star father. She grew to love baseball over the years, and now at seventeen, there’s nowhere she’d rather be than in the Yankee’s stadium. Ty’s love for the sport is visceral and comes so clearly off the pages – it nearly made ME love baseball, and I know next to nothing about it. However, Ty has still lived a somewhat sheltered life protected by her loving father, and she’s a little naive and innocent when it comes to boys – men. But from the second Chase Stern transfers to the Yankees, there’s no one else Ty can see – but luckily, Chase feels the same way.

A player on and off the field, Chase is everything an almost-eighteen-year-old girl should stay away from. Add in the fact that his teammate is her father, and Ty is the very definition of off-limits. But it’s love at first sight for Chase, and there’s nothing he won’t give up for Ty, including other women and drugs. Soon enough, they’re sneaking away in the dark for time alone to talk and touch, allowing their love to bloom and grow… and you know these two are IT for each other. They know each other inside and out – their love and chemistry made my heart sing and flutter.

But despite how much Chase and Ty are meant to be, fate isn’t on their side, and their first love ends in heartbreak. Their time wasn’t then, but four years later, it seems like their time is now. They are just as forbidden to each other as they once were, but the stakes are so much higher this time, because they know what it’s like to lose one another. Can they finally have the open love and relationship they want? Or will the sinister things that have been happening around them catch up with them?

As a teenager, he had corrupted me. As a woman, he had ruined me.

I have to mention that this is one of the few second chance romances where I wholeheartedly loved what happened during the separation. Usually, the hero turns into a manwhore again and sleeps with every woman he encounters, but this amazingly didn’t happen in Moonshot. Ty and Chase’s separation only made them love each other more, and I was so, so happy the author chose to write their story this way.

Certain loves can’t be fought. The harder you tried, the harder you would be knocked back, over and over again, until it beat you into submission, until your heart caved and body surrendered. Love like that didn’t know the rules of society; it didn’t care about life mistakes. It only knew what must be, and what would happen—no matter what.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It’s a one-of-a-kind read, unforgettable and unputdownable. Alessandra Torre continues to prove over and over what a remarkable writer she is, and Moonshot only solidifies how I’ll pretty much read anything by her. Not only does her writing improve with every book she releases, but the versatile way she writes in different genres with different feels in incredibly impressive. No book of hers is like her others – but she writes her suspense and mystery just as jaw-dropping as ever. She had me hooked onto not only Ty and Chase’s forbidden love, but also the mystery seamlessly woven into the novel. I highly, highly recommend this book – if you’re a fan of the author, you already know what a fantastic writer she is, and if you haven’t read her yet, this is the perfect place to start!

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Also by Alessandra Torre

Black Lies: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Sex Love Repeat: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Tight: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Hollywood Dirt: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Love, Chloe: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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29Jun2016

ARC Review: The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: June 28th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

From the internationally celebrated author of the Original Sinners series comes a brand-new tale of betrayal, revenge and a family scandal that bore a 150-year-old mystery

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it’s to discover he’s been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it’s property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris.

In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the distillery that became an empire. But the family tree is rooted in tainted soil and has borne rotten fruit. Theirs is a legacy of wealth and power, but also of lies, secrets and sins of omission. The Maddoxes have bourbon in their blood—and blood in their bourbon. Why Paris wants the bottle of Red Thread remains a secret until the truth of her identity is at last revealed, and the century-old vengeance Tamara vowed against her family can finally be completed.

Love what they destroyed.
Destroy what they loved.

Oh. My. God!!! Tiffany Reisz never ceases to amaze me with her way with words – The Bourbon Thief is a wild ride of a story from start to finish. It took me a little while to get into it, but once Reisz sucked me in, there was no going back for me. I practically devoured this book from 10% on. The suspense surrounding the mysterious Paris and her tale had me riveted and on the edge of my seat. Reisz has written an intricately woven story of love, lies, secrets, wealth, power, and bourbon – and it. was. amazing. It’s been a few days since I’ve finished The Bourbon Thief and I’m still stunned by this book. If you’re a fan of the author, this is a read you don’t want to miss.

“Of all the bars in all the world… you walked into mine to steal my bourbon. You know, stealing something worth a million dollars is a felony.”

Cooper McQueen finds himself robbed by the gorgeous woman he took home for the night – his million-dollar bottle of Red Thread bourbon, the last of its name, was stolen right from under his nose. Before he has her arrested though, the mysterious and seductive woman, Paris, tells him the origins of Red Thread, why it belongs to her – and why it needs to be destroyed. So begins the fascinating history of the Maddoxes, the creators of Red Thread, and one girl’s quest for revenge against her family.

This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read, even Reisz’s Original Sinners series. It’s got a historical feel to it, since much of the book is set in the past; it’s got mystery and suspense; it’s got a plot for revenge; it’s got a sweet romance, one that I absolutely adored; and of course, it’s not Tiffany Reisz without some erotic taboo. There is just so much going on in this book, from Paris’s mysterious relation to Red Thread, to Tamara and Levi’s story set in the past. But the thing about Reisz’s writing and storytelling is that nothing feels gratuitous – every word matters to the story, and I totally got that feeling in The Bourbon Thief.

I really have no words to describe how I feel about this book, other than it blew my mind. The way Reisz connected all the puzzle pieces of the story was incredible. If you love the author, you’ll want to read this. It was truly an experience reading The Bourbon Thief, and I won’t be forgetting this story anytime soon, that’s for sure.

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Also by Tiffany Reisz

The Original Sinners series

#1 ~ The Siren: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ The Angel: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Prince: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ The Mistress: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ The Saint: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#6 ~ The King: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#7 ~ The Virgin: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#8 ~ The Queen: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Novella ~ The Mistress Files: Ebook • Goodreads
Collection ~ The Confessions: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

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16Jun2016

Audiobook Review: Chasing Spring by R.S. Grey

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Chasing Spring by R.S. Grey
Series: Standalone
Audiobook Publication Date: June 7th 2016
Length: 6 hours and 16 minutes
Narrated by: Alia Tavakolian, Ricco Fajardo, Jeannie Tirado
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

I thought I’d left Blackwater, Texas behind for good. I didn’t belong in the small town, but my dad wouldn’t listen. He dragged me back home in his beat-up truck and dropped a bomb along the way: Chase Matthews was moving in with us. He was the golden boy of my high school, my former best friend, and the last person I wanted sleeping across the hall. His presence was too great a reminder of the ghosts I was trying to forget.

I didn’t ask for a hero. I don’t want to be saved.

To me, Lilah Calloway meant late nights sneakin’ out, moonlit hair, and sparklers in July. She was my best friend until the day she left and I’d assumed Blackwater had seen the last of her. Then, like a tempest, she rolled back into town for the final half of senior year. The chopped hair and dark devil-may-care attitude warned most people away, but I knew if I fought hard enough, I could find the lost girl.

I didn’t want to be her hero. Some girls don’t need to be saved.

I’m a big fan of R.S. Grey’s rom-coms, but I knew going into Chasing Spring it would be a little different from what the author normally writes. It’s a YA book, not new adult, and it’s much more serious that her usual fun and flirty books. I wish I could say I loved Chasing Spring as much as I loved her previous books, but the execution of the story just wasn’t up to par. I really enjoyed listening to the three narrators, but the story wasn’t cohesive enough for me to truly appreciate the narration. I do applaud the author for venturing out of her normal genre, and wouldn’t mind giving a try at another of her YAs.

Lilah Calloway and Chase Matthews used to be childhood best friends before tragedy tore them apart. They haven’t seen each other for years, but Lilah has finally come home for their senior year of high school, but she’s not the same girl she used to be. She’s dyed her hair black, turned a little emo and grunge… she’s a bit of a mess and not at all happy. Chase is his usual shining, star athlete self… except looks can be deceiving. Chase’s mother is dead and his father is an alcoholic – but Lilah’s father offers him a place to stay in his home. Once again, Chase and Lilah will be together again, but not as close friends anymore.

Here we have coming-of-age YA, as Lilah struggles to deal with her problems and Chase trying to help her while saving himself. The romance between them kind of went on the backburner, which is a shame because if the author had fleshed out the love between Lilah and Chase more, it would’ve been so sweet and heartwarming. But the main focus was on Lilah’s problems, especially with drug and alcohol abuse. It was a little tiring and boring as I listened to Lilah NOT deal with her problems even though she wanted to, and Chase trying and failing to help her because she didn’t want his help. I lacked a connection with the characters and story, which impacted how I felt as I listened to the audiobook.

Luckily, the narrators did a great job at voicing the main characters. I was a little confused at why there were three narrators instead of just two, but I eventually found out that besides Lilah and Chase, there is a third POV, Lilah’s mother Elaine, who is also central to the story. I found her story to be the most intriguing and I really wish we’d gotten more of her POV than we did.

Chasing Spring had potential, but the story just wasn’t executed very well. I loved the narration, but it wasn’t enough for me to enjoy the story like a wanted. I still love R.S. Grey and will read more of her NAs, but this one is not one of my favorites of hers!

CHASING SPRING is now available on Audible: http://amzn.to/1Yt0g99

Also by R.S. Grey

Scoring Wilder: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Settling the Score: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
With This Heart: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
The Allure of Julian Lefray: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
The Allure of Dean Harper: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
The Duet: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
The Design: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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8Jun2016

ARC Review: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: June 7th 2016
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick and a “Best Book of the Summer” by Glamour and USA TODAY—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?

Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

I’m a little bummed right now because I really, really wanted to love this one more. One True Loves sounded absolutely amazing, and I hadn’t read Taylor Jenkins Reid before, but I’d heard great things about her books. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t connect well enough with the story and characters. It was as if I was reading this book from a distance – watching everything happen, but not emotionally connecting with anything. It sucks! I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t really love it either, so it ended up being an okay read. The writing is stunning though, and I am more than likely to pick up another book of the author’s just for the writing.

Years ago, Emma’s high school sweetheart-turned-husband went missing while flying over the Pacific for a job. She and Jesse hadn’t even made it one year in their marriage before everything fell apart and Emma lost the love of her life. Now, in her thirties, she’s been able to pick herself up and move on. She reunites with an old friend, Sam, who contributes a big part to her healing and moving on, and she eventually falls in love with him. Now engaged to the new love of her life, Emma is finally happy again… until she receives a phone call telling her that Jesse is alive. The past and present collide as her old love and new want her to choose what life she wants to live, and with whom. But how can she choose between two loves and two lives? Is there such thing as only ONE true love?

By loving the two of them, I am no longer sure about either. And by being unsure, I might just lose them both.
Romantic love is a beautiful thing under the right circumstances. But those circumstances are so specific and rare, aren’t they?
It’s rare that you love the person who loves you, that you love only the person who loves only you. Otherwise, somebody’s heartbroken.
But I guess that’s why true love is so alluring in the first place. It’s hard to find and hold on to, like all beautiful things. Like gold, saffron, or aurora borealis.

The premise of One True Loves hooked me in, I’ll admit. I was dying to see how things would play out, who Emma would choose. Sadly, the way the story was organized really put me off. We are told the stories of two completely different relationships at different times in Emma’s life in a normal-sized book, and the length of the separate romances wasn’t long or developed enough for me to connect with. I never loved Jesse, I never loved Sam, so I didn’t really care about who Emma would choose in the end. Maybe if the book were longer, I’d be able to connect with the men more, but throughout the book, I never really became invested in any of the romance.

It breaks my heart to be loved like this, to be loved so purely that I’m capable of breaking a heart.

I also got annoyed at the choices Emma made during her hesitation about who to choose. I was a little disgusted at how she went from Jesse to Sam, then Sam to Jesse, and then all over again, without caring about how they feel. She constantly hurts these two men who would do anything for her, and I just couldn’t like a heroine who knows she’s hurting the men she loves, and does it anyway. And in the end, things wrapped up too neatly and nicely – I’m happy with who she chose, but I would’ve really liked to see Emma work to deserve the love of the man she ended up with.

TJR’s writing, however, is phenomenal. A little formal, yes, but it’s a unique style and very different from what I’m used to reading. I just wish she’d structured the story in a better way that could’ve made me connect more. The moral of the book though, comes across very, very well, and I appreciated that there was a deeper meaning to OTL than just a simple love triangle. Overall, this book just didn’t work that well for me, but others might enjoy it more than I did!

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Also by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Maybe in Another Life: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
After I Do: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Forever, Interrupted: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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